Three concerts at Teatro La Scala by the orchestra and chorus from Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre have all sold out, organizers said on Monday.
The concerts on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights feature music by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev.
Bolshoi director Aleksander Vedernikov will conduct the concerts.
The concerts are the first events of a new three-year collaboration accord between La Scala and the Bolshoi which revives those in 1964 and 1973-74 and will involve the two theatres exchanging music, ballet and opera productions.
The two historic theatres have much in common, including the fact that they both date back to the 18th century, were twinned in the 19th century and have been subject to major renovation work, La Scala from 2001 to 2004 and the Bolshoi from 2005 to 2009.
When the Bolshoi reopens, La Scala will be the first foreign company to perform on its stage.
Before arriving here for this week's concerts, the 43-year-old Bolshoi director said Italy was ''the best country in the world to collaborate with''.
Negotiations are currently in progress for the Bolshoi to also perform in Florence, Naples and Cagliari.
The performances in Italy are part of a new strategy for the famed Moscow theatre to expand its international horizons, Vedernikov said.
This will include tours in Japan and Europe, especially Paris and Vienna, as well as in the United States, with the Metropolitan in New York the most likely candidate to host the Bolshoi.
The new collaboration accord between the Milan and Moscow theatres began to take shape last summer and in October will see La Scala's orchestra and chorus traveling to Moscow for a number of performances at the Bolshoi's temporary home, set up in a building next to the original theatre.
The Bolshoi company is set to return to La Scala in November 2009, two months after La Scala's ballet company performs at the Bolshoi.
The collaboration between the two theatres winds up in 2010 with La Scala company performing concerts and staging an opera at the renovated Bolshoi Theatre.
The exchanges between the Milan and Moscow theatres in 1964 marked the Bolshoi's first foray abroad, while their collaboration between 1973-74 included solo performances by such Italian greats as Mario del Monaco, Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti.
